Oldman and Crowsnest River Report, June 18, 2013

Spring and early Summer:  " It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine"
-Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I was on local rivers this weekend and Monday night. Saturday afternoon I spent a couple of hours on the Crowsnest river looking for risers. I spotted none in spite of covering some territory. I returned one evening this week after some rain and hail, and it fished well in the low light and humidity. It felt like summer. There was a rumbling storm in the distance, some surface disturbances and a few takes on a dry fly. They were solid "Crow" fish with a lot of pull in them.

crowsnest river rainbow

I spent late morning and mid-day on Sunday checking out the Lower Oldman river. Usually at this time of year it is high, fast and turbid. This year, mid-June, it is quite fishable. I have never experienced that in the 12 years I've fished it. Usually you have to wait until mid-July for it to drop and clear for any sort of consistent dry fly angling. No two angling seasons are ever the same.

The visibility on the lower Oldman was 2 to 3 feet. When I arrived at the river there was some cloud cover and quite a few bugs were on the water: mainly mid-sized yellow stones, some size 12 mayflies and in the afternoon just a few PMD's appeared. I caught some fish on dries casting to boils and spotted the odd trout sporadically eating on top. The ones I landed were mid-sized fish....one was a bit better. The largest fish I intended to photograph but it wasn't cooperative; so no fish pics from the Oldman. Things were looking very promising but when the full sun appeared in the afternoon it became a ghost town...no more surface action except one small Brown trout feeding in the shadow of the bridge. Some other anglers were around. One fellow was practicing Spey casting and dreaming of Steelhead. Boat trailers were also around so a few people were drifting the river. I walked downstream quite far when the sun squelched the angling to investigate how recent run-off has re-shaped the river. I spotted an upright picnic table in the middle of the river on a shoal. Here is a snap of it. I'll eat lunch there sometime this summer. Maybe use it as a casting platform!

picnic table, oldman river

The Lower Oldman looks real promising. I might check it out again after work later this week if it stays warm and fish it late (in low light).

Because it's the beginning of summer, angling memories are just waiting to happen.

Crowsnest River Report, June 8, 2013

The Crow has dropped a lot in the past week and you can wade it if you pick your spots. I crossed it in several places. The water clarity isn't bad: two or three feet of visibility. I prospected with a large dry (salmon fly) and picked up a couple of decent fish and missed a few.



crowsnest river rainbow

There were a lot of Stone fly shucks at river's edge but I didn't see any Salmon flies in the air. There were a few PMD's around and a few small Stones (yellow). I saw no rising fish even in the back eddies...not enough bugs around.

salmon fly shuck

The weather was great, a lot of anglers were around and the Crowsnest Pass was buzzing. It was good to be wading again. The tug of a river is a wonderful thing.

Things are starting to heat up... a few PMD's are showing...sipping trout are just around the corner.



another fattie

Scenes Around Home

friend along hiking trail

 

The water locally has been very high with run-off and a lot of rain the past couple of weeks....not great for the dry fly angler. It has been a tough Spring. But there is hope. Some rivers are dropping and clearing. I used the high water time to catch up on household maintenance and chores, hike and take some photos. Here are some snaps from the Crowsnest Pass. This weekend I'll check out the Salmon fly hatch.


weeping posts

another friend

 

 

local transportation

 

 

 sun warming things up